Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F03—MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS; WIND, SPRING, OR WEIGHT MOTORS; PRODUCING MECHANICAL POWER OR A REACTIVE PROPULSIVE THRUST, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F03B—MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS
  • F03B13/00—Adaptations of machines or engines for special use; Combinations of machines or engines with driving or driven apparatus; Power stations or aggregates
  • F03B13/12—Adaptations of machines or engines for special use; Combinations of machines or engines with driving or driven apparatus; Power stations or aggregates characterised by using wave or tide energy
  • F03B13/14—Adaptations of machines or engines for special use; Combinations of machines or engines with driving or driven apparatus; Power stations or aggregates characterised by using wave or tide energy using wave energy
  • F03B13/16—Adaptations of machines or engines for special use; Combinations of machines or engines with driving or driven apparatus; Power stations or aggregates characterised by using wave or tide energy using wave energy using the relative movement between a wave-operated member, i.e. a "wom" and another member, i.e. a reaction member or "rem"
  • F03B13/18—Adaptations of machines or engines for special use; Combinations of machines or engines with driving or driven apparatus; Power stations or aggregates characterised by using wave or tide energy using wave energy using the relative movement between a wave-operated member, i.e. a "wom" and another member, i.e. a reaction member or "rem" where the other member, i.e. rem is fixed, at least at one point, with respect to the sea bed or shore
  • F03B13/1805—Adaptations of machines or engines for special use; Combinations of machines or engines with driving or driven apparatus; Power stations or aggregates characterised by using wave or tide energy using wave energy using the relative movement between a wave-operated member, i.e. a "wom" and another member, i.e. a reaction member or "rem" where the other member, i.e. rem is fixed, at least at one point, with respect to the sea bed or shore and the wom is hinged to the rem
  • F03B13/181—Adaptations of machines or engines for special use; Combinations of machines or engines with driving or driven apparatus; Power stations or aggregates characterised by using wave or tide energy using wave energy using the relative movement between a wave-operated member, i.e. a "wom" and another member, i.e. a reaction member or "rem" where the other member, i.e. rem is fixed, at least at one point, with respect to the sea bed or shore and the wom is hinged to the rem for limited rotation
  • F03B13/1815—Adaptations of machines or engines for special use; Combinations of machines or engines with driving or driven apparatus; Power stations or aggregates characterised by using wave or tide energy using wave energy using the relative movement between a wave-operated member, i.e. a "wom" and another member, i.e. a reaction member or "rem" where the other member, i.e. rem is fixed, at least at one point, with respect to the sea bed or shore and the wom is hinged to the rem for limited rotation with an up-and-down movement
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F03—MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS; WIND, SPRING, OR WEIGHT MOTORS; PRODUCING MECHANICAL POWER OR A REACTIVE PROPULSIVE THRUST, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F03B—MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS
  • F03B13/00—Adaptations of machines or engines for special use; Combinations of machines or engines with driving or driven apparatus; Power stations or aggregates
  • F03B13/12—Adaptations of machines or engines for special use; Combinations of machines or engines with driving or driven apparatus; Power stations or aggregates characterised by using wave or tide energy
  • F03B13/14—Adaptations of machines or engines for special use; Combinations of machines or engines with driving or driven apparatus; Power stations or aggregates characterised by using wave or tide energy using wave energy
  • F03B13/16—Adaptations of machines or engines for special use; Combinations of machines or engines with driving or driven apparatus; Power stations or aggregates characterised by using wave or tide energy using wave energy using the relative movement between a wave-operated member, i.e. a "wom" and another member, i.e. a reaction member or "rem"
  • F03B13/20—Adaptations of machines or engines for special use; Combinations of machines or engines with driving or driven apparatus; Power stations or aggregates characterised by using wave or tide energy using wave energy using the relative movement between a wave-operated member, i.e. a "wom" and another member, i.e. a reaction member or "rem" wherein both members, i.e. wom and rem are movable relative to the sea bed or shore
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
  • E02B—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING
  • E02B17/00—Artificial islands mounted on piles or like supports, e.g. platforms on raisable legs or offshore constructions; Construction methods therefor
  • E02B2017/0091—Offshore structures for wind turbines
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F05—INDEXING SCHEMES RELATING TO ENGINES OR PUMPS IN VARIOUS SUBCLASSES OF CLASSES F01-F04
  • F05B—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO WIND, SPRING, WEIGHT, INERTIA OR LIKE MOTORS, TO MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS COVERED BY SUBCLASSES F03B, F03D AND F03G
  • F05B2220/00—Application
  • F05B2220/70—Application in combination with
  • F05B2220/706—Application in combination with an electrical generator
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F05—INDEXING SCHEMES RELATING TO ENGINES OR PUMPS IN VARIOUS SUBCLASSES OF CLASSES F01-F04
  • F05B—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO WIND, SPRING, WEIGHT, INERTIA OR LIKE MOTORS, TO MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS COVERED BY SUBCLASSES F03B, F03D AND F03G
  • F05B2240/00—Components
  • F05B2240/40—Use of a multiplicity of similar components
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F05—INDEXING SCHEMES RELATING TO ENGINES OR PUMPS IN VARIOUS SUBCLASSES OF CLASSES F01-F04
  • F05B—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO WIND, SPRING, WEIGHT, INERTIA OR LIKE MOTORS, TO MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS COVERED BY SUBCLASSES F03B, F03D AND F03G
  • F05B2240/00—Components
  • F05B2240/90—Mounting on supporting structures or systems
  • F05B2240/97—Mounting on supporting structures or systems on a submerged structure
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
  • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
  • Y02E10/30—Energy from the sea, e.g. using wave energy or salinity gradient

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a wave power apparatus wherein an array of mutually articulated buoyancy bodies are arrangeable on or partly submersible in a mass of water in order therein to be subjected to wave motion, at least one energy-generating means being arranged in association with the movable links in the array and forming part of the individual link, the link being shaped as a hinge with a first hinge part constituted by or connected to a stator of an electric generator, with a second hinge part constituted by or connected to a rotor in the electric generator, and with a link shaft.
• each link is configured as a generator, and where between the links there extend connection elements, each of which is configured as a buoyancy body;
• Wave power has the merit of being renewable energy with huge potentials in the wave energy, depending on equipment location and technology.
• the advantage is that it is possible to obtain electrical energy by wave power, thereby avoiding CO 2 emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels.
• wave power has only been made use of to a limited extent.
• the object of the present invention is therefore to provide an apparatus which remedies some of the obvious defects or drawbacks of the known solutions, and consequently the aim is to make possible an apparatus in which electric power can be produced directly, where deployment and retrieval of the apparatus is simple and fast, where the apparatus can be configured modularly, and where the apparatus, when placed on board a vessel during transport, requires relatively little space.
• connection elements which have no buoyancy or have limited buoyancy; that each end of the array is assigned at least one buoyancy body which either is attached to the end or has a depending connection to the end; and that buoyancy bodies are assigned to the links and are each composed of at least one of the following means:
• FIG. 1 shows a first mode of operation of the apparatus according to the invention.
• FIG. 2 is a top view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.
• FIG. 3 shows a second mode of operation of the apparatus according to the invention.
• FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention.
• FIG. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention.
• Fig. 6 is a side view of a section of the apparatus according to the invention with link shaft.
• Fig. 7 shows the section VII in Fig. 8 before the assembly of the rotor part and stator part of a generator.
• Fig. 8 is a top view of a section of the apparatus as shown in Fig. 2.
• FIG. 9 shows a modification of the solution shown in Fig. 2 and in Figs. 6 - 8.
• FIG. 10 shows a further modification of the apparatus shown in Figs. 2, 6 - 8 and 9.
• Fig. 11 shows in the form of a block diagram the connection between generators included in the apparatus and an energy consumer.
• the part 11 can form a stator whilst the part 12 can form a rotor.
• the outlined generator according to Figs. 6 - 8 consists, as mentioned, of a stator 11 and a rotor 12. Basically, both the stator and the rotor should be electrically insulated from the surroundings, so that the generator is durable and water-resistant.
• the stator 11 consists of a plurality of parallel, annular bodies, each body being divided into a plurality of mutually electrically separated segments containing induction coils.
• the rotor 12 similarly consists of a plurality of mutually parallel annular bodies, each body being equipped with segments of permanent magnet material or conventional magnets, so that when the rotor moves . relative to the stator, constantly changing fields will be set up in the induction coils of the stator.
• the stator of each generator generates an alternating current, but the current from the respective generators will not necessarily be in phase.
• the parts 11 and 12 have a through hole through which a link shaft 13 can extend.
• the link shaft is expediently fastened either to the stator 11 or to the rotor 12, so as to permit the rotor 12 to move relative to the link shaft 13 and the stator 11, or to permit the stator 11 to move relative to the rotor 12 and the link shaft 13.
• the link shaft is simply limited at its ends, and that when the link moves up and down, the stator and the rotor are both movable about the link shaft.
• the link shaft is in this case expediently configured as a buoyancy body, and this body may' be hollow, may be tubular with internal ribs (for example, made by extrusion), or may be tubular and filled with a stiffening material, for example, a foam plastic.
• a stiffening material for example, a foam plastic.
• the energy generating means 11, 12 constitutes a part of the individual link.
• the links 8 - 10 are shaped as a hinge, wherein a first hinge part is constituted by the stator of the electric generator and the second hinge part is constituted by the rotor 12 in the hinge part.
• the link shaft 13 of the hinge will extend through the centre of the stator 11 and the rotor 12, respectively.
• the first hinge part is connected to a stator 14 of an electric generator 15 and the second hinge part is constituted by or connected to a rotor 16 in the hinge part.
• the hinge has a link , * shaft 16' which is constituted by the generator drive shaft.
• the individual generators thus formed are indicated by means of the respective reference numerals 35'; 36'; 37'..
• connecting links 38; 39 are mutually movably hinged together via respective hinge parts 38'; 39' and a common shaft 40.
• the shaft 40 is rigidly attached to the hinge parts 38', whilst the hinge parts 39' are movable relative to the hinge parts 38' and the shaft 40.
• the shaft 40 may be wholly or partly hollow, so that it forms a buoyancy body. If desired, it may have internal ribs or be filled with a light stiffening filling material, for example, of foam plastic.
• the generator housings of electric generators 41 and 42 are secured by mountings 39"; 39'" to the connecting link 39, whilst the respective generator drive shafts 41'; 43' are axially aligned with and rigidly attached to the shaft 40.
• Buoyancy bodies 42; 42' are provided for the respective generators 41; 43.
• the power generated will be an alternating current, i.e. a polarity alternating direct current, as a function of the wave frequency, it will therefore be necessary that the current from the individual generators 35; 36; 37 or 35'; 36'; 37' or 42; 43 (more generators if there are more links in the array) is passed to a rectifier part 44 as shown in Fig. 11 and rectified therein.
• the rectifier part 44 is expediently placed at the end of the apparatus, i.e., before the rectified energy is then • • supplied to a consumer 45 (see Fig. 11) either directly as direct current, or via an inverter 46 as a supply of alternating current to the consumer.
• connection elements 17 - 20 the individual links in the array are connected by connection elements 17 - 20. In normal circumstances, these connection elements have little or no natural buoyancy, it being desirable that the buoyancy should be at the hinge links themselves, and also at the end regions of the array, where there is no generator.
• the link shaft itself may form an effective buoyancy body, in that it is hollow or filled with a buoyancy material which fills the cavity of the link shaft.
• the object is intended that the array at one end I' thereof is designed to be capable of being moored to an ocean floor/seabed 21 via a line or chain 22.
• Power cable 23 from the generators can either follow the line 22 to the seabed and thence be passed onwards to the user site, or be laid partly floating in the sea to a user installation, for example, on shore.
• Fig. 3 shows that the array at one end 1 ' ' thereof is designed to be able to be connected to a geological formation 24.
• One such formation 24 may consist of a formation which at all times projects above the surface of the body of water independent of tidal ranges, or of a formation which, independent of tidal ranges, is under the surface of the body of water.
• the power cable 23' may, in this case, be passed directly to the formation 24.
• the object is to show that the apparatus will be able to serve as an emergency power source for a floating craft/vessel 25. This may perhaps be relevant if the craft has engine failure and the power generator on board thus no longer generates power, hi this case, the array 1 of the apparatus can at one end 1 " ' be connected to the craft/vessel 25.
• the apparatus 1 is easily dismantable at all links by pulling out the link shaft, or in that the apparatus is readily collapsible at the links. Thus, the apparatus will be easily stowable on board if its use is not required.
• each of the links in the array and the ends of the array can be suspended from at least two floats 26, 27, 28, 29, 30.
• this solution may be appropriate.
• connection elements such as connection elements 17 - 20
• connection elements 17 - 20 may, for example, be of standardised modules, as for instance a) two combinable types, i.e., with al) a stator at both ends and a2) a rotor at both ends; b) only with a stator at one end and a rotor at the other end; and/or c) with cl) a rotor at only one end or c2) a stator at only one end.
• a module of the type c) is particularly suitable for the end elements in an array, so that the outer ends of the array do not contain a costly inactive rotor part or stator part.
• the buoyancy bodies are arranged in, are arranged at or are suspended from said links in the array, so that between the links and in addition between the ends of the array and the closest link there extend connection elements having no buoyancy or limited buoyancy.
• each of said floats or buoyancy bodies may be constituted by at least one of the following means: said link shaft 13 configured as a buoyancy body; buoyancy body 27 - 29 attached to the links 3 - 5; buoyancy body 26, 30 attached to the ends of said connection element; buoyancy body attached to each end region of the link and to the ends of the apparatus; and buoyancy body with depending connection to each link and the ends of the apparatus, as shown in Fig. 5.
• Fig. 10 shows that generators are fastened to each end of the link shaft by their drive shaft, and that the buoyancy bodies there are fastened to the generator housing or surround it.
• markings 33 for example, selected from the group: radar reflector, light emitter, marker stakes, radio transmitter and marker balloon anchored at at least one end of the array.
• the apparatus may also be expedient to equip the apparatus with at least one keel 34, so that it becomes directionally stable relative to the mounting site.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Other Liquid Machine Or Engine Such As Wave Power Use (AREA)
• Connection Of Motors, Electrical Generators, Mechanical Devices, And The Like (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

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Family Applications (1)

Country Status (9)

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Citations (8)

Family Cites Families (19)

• 2006
  • 2006-07-07 NO NO20063173A patent/NO326156B1/no not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2007
  • 2007-07-06 CA CA002656765A patent/CA2656765A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2007-07-06 JP JP2009518025A patent/JP5268903B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2007-07-06 EP EP07808595A patent/EP2041428A4/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2007-07-06 CN CN2007800257574A patent/CN101490409B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2007-07-06 BR BRPI0713912-8A patent/BRPI0713912A2/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2007-07-06 AU AU2007270128A patent/AU2007270128B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2007-07-06 US US12/309,156 patent/US8358025B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2007-07-06 WO PCT/NO2007/000262 patent/WO2008004893A1/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (8)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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